Have you ever wished, "If only..."?

I have always wished I could be a great dancer. I took ballet briefly when I was a little girl. I don't even remember why I stopped. I did like it. It was offered after school in the music room. I remember it well. We pulled out bars and stood there holding on practicing our positions and pleas and grand pleas. I even did a dance recital. I got to wear the outfit, the bun, everything. It was fun. Then it stopped.
I tried again in high school. I took dance for my P.E. It was a combination of ballet, jazz and tap. That lasted one semester. The teacher thought I was terrible. I can still remember doing jazz walks across the floor and thinking I was at least doing an ok job. She looked at me and said, "What are you doing?!?" It really hurt my feelings. She could've at least been nice about my lack of dance ability. Then I stopped. I know why. Mrs. Blanchard crushed my hopes of ever getting it. Not just in that one comment, but throughout the semester. I wasn't trying to be on her dance team, I just wanted to take a PE class I thought would be fun. After that, I joined the track team.
Emma is just like most little girls and dreams of being a dancer. I took her to CSA and enrolled her in the only class they offered for girls her age -tap. As I watched her tap I kept thinking, "I want to do that!" The dream inside me never went away. As I tried living through my daughter, I knew that somehow I had to do it for myself. I watched the Christmas production she was in and there were adult tappers in it. They themselves were new to tap. If they could do it, I could do it. (Felicia, if you read this, you inspired me. :-)) So I signed up. In January I took my first semester of tap. I even performed. Can't say that performing is my favorite part, but I would still do it again. Anyway, the class was fun. There were 20 of us all trying something we had never done before. We had a great time. There were times that I thought maybe I would never get it...maybe you really can't teach an old dog new tricks. But still, I enjoyed it and my teacher didn't look at me like I was an idiot for even trying (thanks, Leslie!).
I am now two classes into my second semester. Last night was my favorite night so far. We were dancing. We were putting moves together and making noises with our taps. I felt like I was tapping. I probably looked as silly as I did in high school, but I was having fun and my teacher didn't wonder what I was doing... at least not out loud.
I guess it is never too late to realize a childhood dream. I may not have done it as a child, but I am doing it now!